To Accept Fate's Will: Fire and Water
by Higuchimon
Summary: She searches for two people: a hero who can defeat Haou and the soulmate she fears to find. And she may well find them in the very same person.
1. Chapter 1

**Series:** To Accept Fate's Will|| **Story:** Fire and Water  
 **Characters:** O'Brien, Sea God's Priestess, Shou|| **Pair:** O'Brien x Sea God's Priestess  
 **Words:** 2,523/9,539|| **Chapters:** 1/4  
 **Genre:** Romance, Drama|| **Rated:** PG  
 **Challenges:** Diversity Writing: YGO soulmate AUs: H8: 4 chapters; Pairing Diversity Boot Camp, #24, embrace; Word Count Set Boot Camp, #31, 9,539 words; IncludeThe Word Boot Camp, #18, comparison; Valentine's Day to White Day 2016, day #1, write a soulmate!AU; Easter Egg Basket Advent 2016, #11, write from a Duel Spirit's POV  
 **Timeframe:** Season 3, episode 141 and after, set in a soulmate universe  
 **Summary:** She searches for two people: a hero who can defeat Haou and the soulmate she fears to find. And she may well find them in the very same person.

* * *

Once, she'd kept a careful watch on her counter, anticipating the day when she would actually meet her soulmate. Whoever it might be, whatever the bond might entail, she looked forward to it with glee. Even the harshness of this world didn't dim her enthusiasm.

 _I should have known it was too good to be true._ She tried not to think much about it these days. But as each moment clicked by, and the counter ticked downward…

 _No. It won't be. It can't be._

She gripped harder on her trident and hurried along, her fairy friends swooping in her wake. They were lucky. They didn't have one of the marks. They didn't have a soulmate.

They didn't have to take the chance that _their_ soulmate could be one of those who served Haou.

She bit back the thought before it could be fully formed, picking up the pace. She'd tried for ages to ignore the possibility but now that it crossed her mind once again, it hovered in the back of her thoughts, a terrifying concept that churned her stomach and froze her breath.

 _If I can find the temple again… or a shrine, even._ She would pray. She would pray as she had for ages, in the hopes that her god would change her fate somehow. Give her a new soulmate, one who would be kind and helpful. Or just remove the counter altogether.

 _That's never happened. Do the gods even care?_ Some tales said the gods were those who designed the soulmate counters, dictating that two or more folk were connected to one another. The bond could be that of friendship or romance or siblingness – sometimes even a mixture of those. But those bonds were there, regardless.

And the fewer people there were in the world, then the more chances that her soulmate, whomsoever it was, would be one of those in Haou's army.

 _No. I can't think that. I need to find someone who can help us. A hero._ If such a person even existed. She'd begun to doubt.

Her fairies squealed and she jerked her head up, stumbling to a halt. In front of her stood a person – shorter than she was, wrapped in a concealing cloak, and accompanied by an Ojama Yellow.

That told her right away this wasn't someone aligned with Haou. He accepted anyone ruthless enough into his forces, with few exceptions. Those known exceptions included Ojamas of any kind.

She'd heard a story once about how Ojama Red and Blue tried to join – the gods alone knew why – and whatever he'd done to them, no one wanted to repeat it.

Before she could speak, the stranger gestured to one side of the pathway. "Over here. They won't see us."

She cast a brief glance behind herself; she'd fled partly to search for a hero and partly to escape Haou's warriors. She'd never known if they knew she was there or not, but she hadn't wanted to stop and ask, either.

So now she hurried off to the side, where concealing undergrowth made a fine place for them to hide themselves. She took the chance to rest, closing her eyes and breathing for a few moments. Her counter hadn't changed at all; she knew she'd feel the warmth coming when she met the person who matched hers. Whoever this was, they weren't the one.

She did look at him curiously, though, and he slid the hood back from himself as she did. He seemed human, with fair aqua hair and gray eyes. A haunting sadness hovered in his eyes.

"Who are you?" She murmured. Was he a warrior? A hero? Could he be the one she was searching for. All of those hovered on her lips but she didn't ask. At least not yet.

He turned away, gaze tracking along the road as the soldiers moved along out of sight.

"No one important."

"Big Bro Shou -" Ojama Yellow tried to say before he caught sight of her companions. "Oh! Pretty! You're very pretty!"

The young man sighed as he turned his attention back to her. "It should be safe for you to leave now."

She glanced that way herself; the soldiers had passed out of sight. She would have to be careful, but it could be done. But she looked back to him.

"Are you a warrior? Someone who can fight Haou?" She hoped. She hoped with all of her heart. She _needed_ someone who could do this.

They all did. Haou already destroyed every scrap of resistance in this part of the world and once he had it all under his armored thumb, he would move on to another one. No one knew how large the world was, but the idea of all of it belonging to Haou filled her sleep with nightmares.

But he shook his head, dropping his gaze. "No. I chose a different path."

Her heart sank. She didn't dare try to persuade him otherwise, though. Instead, she looked down the path, wondering how far it might be until she could reach another settlement. If there were any others. Everything she'd heard said there weren't. They were the last outpost, the last gathering of anyone who had even a scrap of resistance to Haou in their souls.

Then he met her eyes again. "But if you go down this way to the wastelands, you could meet someone who might be able to help you. He hasn't chosen his path yet." From underneath his cloak he pulled out something long and wrapped in cloth. "If you find him and he's willing to help you, then he should be able to use this."

She took it; it wasn't very heavy but unwieldy. A weapon of some kind? She wanted to unwrap it and see for herself, but there wasn't time. Whoever this potential hero and helper was, he could be found by Haou's warriors or just turn off along the path and she'd not find him.

"Thank you," she said, with a quick bend of her head. "Please be safe yourself."

He smiled, or at least his lips moved a trifle upward before he turned away. "Good-bye."

She barely had time to notice him start walking again before she hurried down the way that he'd pointed out to her. It wasn't the way that she'd been going, so if she hadn't met him, she might have missed this hopeful warrior entirely.

Faster and faster she raced down it, her fairies buzzing beside her, until they all squealed.

"There he is! That must be him!"

She hadn't been paying attention to where she ran, especially as behind her, she could hear the sounds of pursuit. That wasn't a good sign at all. But now she brought her head up and saw a tall figure ahead of her. He wasn't anyone she knew at all, but if she'd imagined a warrior, this would have been him.

He turned towards her, and their eyes met.

The counter on her arm flared up with an unexpected warmth and she stumbled to a halt. At the same moment, he raised his own right arm and stared from it to her, eyes round in shock.

"Are you..." She wasn't certain of what she wanted to ask suddenly. Was this the warrior she'd come in hopes of finding or was it the soulmate she'd given up hope of ever meeting?

She shook her head. "Are you a warrior? Can you fight Haou? _Will_ you fight him?"

The stranger stared back at her, one hand covering his right forearm. "I-I can't. I'm...I thought I was a soldier, but...I'm not." Thick, bitter hatred coated his every word. "I'm only a coward."

His eyes kept tugging back to his arm, casting between there and her. She took a step closer and he took one back.

"You should find someone else," he murmured. "I can't help you."

For a few seconds she wanted to keep going. Soulmate or not – and it was far easier to find one of those than it was to find a hero – she needed to continue her search. But she couldn't quite bring her feet to move. As dangerous as it was, she wanted to talk to him, to get to know him, to learn what he was like.

From above them, without warning, there echoed a fierce cry, followed a heartbeat later by sharp claws striking deep into her new companion's shoulders. She fell backwards in surprise, staring at the unexpected arrival.

There were wings, brilliant and metallic, covered in blazing scarlet and gold flames. Then from the flames there peered a head, staring at the two of them as the monster withdrew his talons.

"Those who stand against Haou-sama will fall to me!" The metallic creature declared, voice hissing and burning with flame.

Her companion – soulmate – fell back as well, eyes wider in shock as he started to shake his head, his hands raising to touch where blood came down from his wounds.

"Who are you?" She asked, stepping forward, getting in between the attacker and the other. "What is it that you want?"

"I already told you. Those who stand against Haou will fall to me! I am Plamen: the Bomb Phoenix!"

"I've heard of you." The muscled man said, not taking his eyes off of the creature. "You're a fusion creature: born of any Machine-Type and any Pyro-Type."

The metallic firebird preened for a heartbeat, coming to rest on the path, claws digging into the earth. "I am. Do you stand against Haou?"

For a brief second their eyes met. Then he looked back to their attacker. "And if we do?" His fingers clenched, shaking ever so slightly.

Plamen's beak opened. She wondered if he considered that a smile. His expression didn't look very kind.

"Then I'll eat you. Both of you." Plamen bent his head closer, noticing the tiny fairies. "All of you."

A few more seconds passed, tense and harsh. But she couldn't lie, even if she'd wanted to. She stepped forward. "I can't fight him myself, but I stand against him, even if it means my life!" She wasn't a duelist. She never had been. Her power couldn't stand up to his, either. But she would find someone who could do it, no matter what.

Plamen spread his wings, the flame around them starting to burn hotter. "Then I will destroy you!"

A large burly figure interposed himself between her and the flaming phoenix. "No! I won't let you!"

Her heart beat faster at that. Plamen stared down at him, head tilted to one side, attention on the both of them.

"And what do you think that you can do to stop me?" He began to beat his wings, rising up. "I can destroy the lot of you!"

That couldn't happen. She could see his hands fumbling for something; a weapon, perhaps? But there wasn't one.

At least not one that he had.

She pulled the wrapped package from where she'd kept it on her back and cried out to get his attention. "Use this!"

He caught it effortlessly, pulling the wrapping off to reveal an oddly shaped duel disk. At least odd for a human; she'd seen a few who carried duel disks and this wasn't like one of those.

But he slung it on his arm with perfect ease and long practice before he drew a hand of cards from the deck, a monster materializing a heartbeat later: Fire Trooper.

Plamen only laughed, head darting forward. Fire Trooper tried to strike as well, but fire flared, and Plamen's laughter echoed sharply back from the surrounding rocks. When she could see again, Fire Trooper wasn't there anymore.

"There has to be something else," the other muttered, taking a step back, but keeping himself in between the flaming bird and herself. "But I don't have anything right now!"

She didn't know his deck, didn't know his strategy, but she stepped to where she could see his hand, hoping for an idea. What she saw were mostly Fire and Pyro based cards, nothing that would give them any sort of advantage.

But then one of the cards caught her attention. Why what was obviously a fire duelist would have _that_ card she didn't know, but it offered the chance they would need.

"What we need is the ocean!"

He turned toward her, only for a second before he had to bring his attention back to Plamen before another attack struck at them both. Each of them rolled in opposite directions, but she made certain to get to where she had room to work.

She raised her trident, holding it between her hands. "I call upon the power that dwells within me! Great God I serve, I call upon the power that you've granted to me! The power to change the field to the sea!"

All around them came the unyielding waves of the sea, circling him, her, the fairies, and Plamen. He pulled a second card from his hand.

"Anchor Bind! When the field is the sea, then all Fire monsters are destroyed!"

Plamen's wings beat faster for a few seconds as he rose up higher, staring down as if he couldn't believe what he'd heard. He had no time to protest any further, since the enchanted chains bound his feet together. This lasted only for a few moments before the effect activated and a high wave overcame the firebird, extinguishing the flames, and he exploded into a pile of dust.

For several long minutes he and she stared at one another, each breathing a little heavier. Then she essayed a smile.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

He shook his head, sheathing his wonderful duel disc in a holster by his side. "Don't expect me to be your hero. I can't be anyone's hero."

"But you're so strong! So brave!" The fairies darted closer to him, pleading. "Please help us! There's no one else who can!"

She came closer herself. "They're right. We've searched for a hero who can defeat Haou, and you're the only one that we've found who might stand a chance."

He turned away. "No. I… I fled from Haou when he killed my partner. I couldn't even avenge him." He swallowed. "I'm no one you want. No one at all. For _any_ reason."

She started to reach for him, but pulled her hand back as he moved away.

"You are that hero. You can be." She believed he could be. She wanted to believe with all of her heart.

Blood trickled down from his shoulders. She started to reach again, before stopping once more. "Please. Let me at least dress your wounds."

He glanced towards her, and she could see the denial rising on his lips before she raised her hands. "I can cover them. I won't touch your skin – unless you allow it."

He knew. She knew. Their countdowns matched. But until that first touch between them happened, the bond would not establish itself. She refused to do that without his consent.

For a few moments, he kept on staring at her. Then slowly, he nodded. "Very well."

* * *

 **To Be Continued**

 **Notes:** I wanted this to be a one-shot but it grew a bit on me. I'll update it once a week. There's also a reason I haven't used a name for Sea God's Priestess/Maiden of the Aqua. It will be revealed by the end.

Also, why does O'Brien have Anchor Bind in his deck? He's a fire/pyro type duelist and Anchor Bind only works when Umi (Ocean) is on the field. I may decide to explain that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Words:** 4,593/9,539|| **Chapters:** 2/4

* * *

She carried gloves on her, of course. There were more reasons to have them than just not wanting to touch her soulmate with her bare hands. That was a reason she hadn't even thought of when she started carrying them.

But now she slid them on and started to go through her pack for other supplies. She wasn't a professional healer, not like a Holy Elf or some of the other healers she'd heard of, but she knew enough to take care of this.

 _I hope I do._ Those claws had sunk in deep and been sharper than most she'd ever seen before. A few quick glances told her that there would be scars and the wounds would take time to heal.

Would it be time that he would have? That she couldn't say. She hoped that he would. She still hoped that he would take up the fight against Haou. But for now, she busied herself with settling him into a small cave, one with a tiny streamlet of water cascading out of it.

She gathered up enough wood to get a fire going and set a pan of water near it to heat up. She could see him watching her, staying quiet, but watching with fascination in his eyes.

"How long have you been here?" She asked, wanting to hear something aside from their mutual breathing. He shrugged, wincing at that. She would have to wash those wounds before she did anything else to them.

"Weeks. We came to search for a friend." He didn't seem to look up often, really. "But we found out that he died before we could find him."

She winced; she'd lost many friends of her own over the years. To think there had been a chance to save one and to be _too late_ …

He hesitated as she set another pan of water down to heat. Something else was on his mind.

"Most of the rest of us died just before we found that out." He stared down again. She picked up a clean cloth, dampened it, and then began to carefully wipe his wounds. More blood came out when she did, but not as much as had been before.

"You were lucky," she said, but couldn't have said if she meant for not having died or because his wounds weren't fatal now.

He said nothing. Perhaps he wasn't sure of which she meant either. Instead, he grit his teeth and let her get along with cleaning.

There had to be something else that they could speak of that wasn't the war or the lost or anything like that. Or their bond. That would have been a reasonable topic, if he weren't so clearly dead set on going away once she took care of him.

"What world are you from?" She'd met people from other worlds since visitors began to drop in. He had to be from another such world.

Again he took his time before he answered but when he did, she was a bit surprised.

"We call it Earth. Dueling there… it's not like it is here." He laid a hand on his duel disk for a few seconds. "If you lose, you don't die."

She held her own silence as she made certain that the wounds wouldn't bleed anymore. She didn't s tart to talk again until she picked up the second pan of water and began to add herbs to it.

"That's not how it is where I come from as well." She let out a long sigh, remembering. "I come from a world of islands and oceans. This isn't at all like what I'm used to." A tiny twitch of a smile brushed across her lips. "My power – my effect – it's considered useless at home. Because almost everything is the ocean there."

He turned towards her, eyes tinted with confusion now. "It might be so there but you helped me here."

She ducked her head, cheeks tinging the faintest bits of red, and focused her attention on what she was doing. "That reminds me. I can see you are a duelist of fire. But you have a card like Anchor Bind. Why is that?"

She wasn't sure what she expected for an answer. She wasn't even certain if she expected an answer at all.

A long stretch of silence was all she heard at first. Then he spoke.

"My mother gave it to me when I was ready to leave for school. She told me that it might be useful. I wasn't certain if I believed her or not, but..." He offered a shrug. "It did come in handy this time."

She nodded. There was no way to argue about that, after all. Another question flicked across her thoughts.

"Is it allowed to tell your name in your world? It isn't quite in mine." She began to wind a strip of bandage around one of his arms. "I can tell you the name of the card based off of me, but my true name? I can only tell you that in rare cases."

That got a small tilt of his head and she offered a smile back.

"O'Brien," he said at last. "Austin O'Brien."

She nodded, tasting it softly on her tongue. A beautiful name, one that hummed with strength and commitment. Perhaps a taste of fear at the moment, but if he'd seen Haou kill his partner, that was only to be expected. What sort of fool _wouldn't_ fear Haou?

"I can tell you mine," she said quietly. "But only if we touch. Names are sacred. Special. For my people, only the closest of friends or bonded soulmates may know them."

Again his head turned down. He shook it in denial and she didn't argue, just worked harder on getting him taken care of. Finally she had the last of the injuries all wrapped and tended.

"They'll need to be cleaned at least once a day," she told him. "And the dressing changed, of course."

When he started to get up, she pressed one gloved hand onto his shoulder. "You should eat first. It'll help you feel better."

She didn't have much food with her; she'd mostly gathered it while searching for a hero to fight Haou. But what she had would be enough for the two of them.

O'Brien gave her another look and she returned it with all of the calm she could manage. She didn't give him that much time to think about matters and perhaps turn her down. Instead, she started to pull her provisions out of her pack. Fruits and nuts and a few edible mushrooms; she settled those by the fire to get warm, since they tasted best like that. Then she dug deeper in and pulled out two large fish and a knife.

"Where did you find those?" O'Brien asked, a touch more curiosity in his tone than for anything else he'd asked of her so far.

She grinned as she picked one of the fish and began to carefully prepare it for cooking. "The village I came from had more than a temple to the sea god. Most of the people there fish and gather gemstones from the sea. I learned how to do this before I joined the temple."

He started to get up and she delivered a stare she'd seen her mother give her father several times. "Stay where you are. You don't need to do anything. You're healing."

O'Brien looked as if he were going to say something, probably in protest. She pressed her lips together for a moment before she gestured to the warming mushrooms.

"You can watch those. Turn them over and make sure they don't burn."

She set out two of the fruits as well. She wasn't sure of what they were called – she hadn't seen them before arriving in this area and no one had been able to tell her – but they were tasty and filling. "Peel these."

While he did that, she took care of the fish, settling them over the fire once they were ready. These fish cooked relatively fast and by the time the mushrooms were heated and the fruit peeled and sliced, everything was ready.

Together the two of them sat and ate, keeping a careful eye outside in case of any approaching soldiers of Haou. It wasn't something they could afford to let their guard down about.

But the whole meal passed, all of them filling their stomachs, without a single hint that anything at all dangerous lurked out there. When she finished, she rose up and started for the door. She hated to leave him like this, but the few words they'd exchanged told her that he had no intentions of being the hero who would help them.

"Be careful," she said at last, removing her gloves and putting them in her bag. "And I hope that you find your way home."

O'Brien bent his head briefly. "The same for you." He glanced at his wrist then at hers. She wondered for a few moments if he would relent, but if the thought occurred to him, he said nothing about it, and remained where he was.

She wanted to move slowly, to ensure that she remained in sight of him as long as she could. But another point occurred: if she wasted too much time, then she might miss someone who could indeed be their savior.

As much as she wanted not to, she began to hurry her steps, aiming for the village she'd heard of where the remainders of the refugees gathered.

The comet's light dimmed and brightened twice more before she reached there, passing through the stockade gates with many others. Less than an hour after that, she wished that she'd remained with O'Brien. Afraid as he might be, he at least did not take food from the mouths of wounded, elderly, or children, nor did he order anyone to dig useless trenches.

But those were things that Watchman of the Underworld and Demonic Sky Elder were doing. She didn't trust either of them for those reasons alone.

"Look! Look!" Her fairy companions squeaked in sudden surprised. They'd been very quiet when she'd eaten with O'Brien, accepting their share, but letting the two of them attempt to know one another better. But now they waved towards someone coming closer.

It was O'Brien. He glanced over to them, then looked away, shoulders hunching. She wanted to ask if he'd changed his mind, but from the way he moved, she didn't think that he had.

Her heart beat faster as he exchanged a few heated words with Watchman of the Underworld, then backed down, stepping to one side. She gathered her courage and moved over towards him.

"No one here will fight," she murmured. "They will defend if they must but there's no true courage in them." She'd not been here long, but she'd seen that already. It was quite hard to miss. "And I don't trust them." She cast her gaze up to where the village leader stepped out of sight.

O'Brien's gaze followed hers. "Who are they?"

"Watchman of the Underworld. I gather he's been the leader here for several days. Demonic Sky Elder has been his assistant only for a little while, though." She'd learned several things wandering around the village, and her friends learned even more.

But O'Brien frowned. "Demonic Sky Elder. Isn't he a Fusion Material monster? For..."

Both of them froze in the same moment. She didn't duel often or well, but she knew what Fusion Material monsters were and what could be done with them.

O'Brien knew more. He stared up at where they were, torn visibly. She passed one hand near his eyes, knowing better than to touch him.

"Whatever they're planning, these people are in danger. Can you just walk away from that?"

Part of him wanted to. She saw that in the way he looked toward the gate. But another part wanted to do something else, and without a single word, he started indoors.

She watched him go and refused to follow along, despite her desire to. He would need help if he won, and she would have to be down here to give that help.

Especially since if he won, there would have to be a new leader for the village and if he didn't nominate himself, then by the tidal waves, she _would_!

* * *

 **To Be Continued**

 **Notes:** Next chapter, O'Brien has to say good-bye and go fight Haou. What does Sea God's Priestess do when he never comes back?


	3. Chapter 3

**Words:** 7,056/9,539|| **Chapters:** 3/4

* * *

She waited. She made certain to wait where it wasn't as likely that any of the guards or those who directly served the so-called leaders – she wasn't sure if they should even be referred to as leaders, not when their goal couldn't be anything so benign. Exactly what they had planned she didn't know, but she trusted that Austin – O'Brien, he hadn't granted permission to use his given name – would be able to stop them.

Noise came from where she'd guessed the two of them were, and people began to look in that direction. It wasn't enough noise to be certain what was going on, but the longer she heard it go on, the more certain she became that O'Brien was dealing with them very decisively.

Those weren't just noises, she realized quite quickly, but the sounds of duel combat. A few words floated down clearly, mostly ones that involved dueling of some sort.

She tensed at the realization. Dueling. Someone was going to die and it could be O'Brien, if matters fell out in the wrong way. She took a few careful steps towards the cliff-side, wondering if she would be able to get up there quickly enough. She was no duelist by any means, but she knew quite well how to use her trident. If she needed to…

A cry that wasn't in a voice she recognized, then someone appeared at one of the openings up there. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was.

"Look!" She gestured, heart pounding in delight, as a large horned figure fell backwards and crashed into the ground. Everyone got a very good look at Skull Bishop before he shrank down to Demonic Sky Elder, remaining there just long enough for everyone in the area to see who he was, before he vanished altogether.

"That was… he's one of Haou's top servants! His Death Duelists!" One of the guards declared, eyes wide and voice full of fear. "W-what was he doing here?"

"And why was he in disguise?" Someone else wondered. A third person guessed the reality of the situation before the others.

"Haou's troops are going to come soon! We can't fight them off on our own! We're all going to die!"

A fourth person shoved her way a little closer to the front, casting worried eyes here and there. "Who did this? Who defeated him?"

As if in answer to her question, O'Brien came down the wall, Guardian of the Underworld in bonds with him. Everyone there stared at him in awe as he landed and took the whole situation in.

"He entered this village in disguise to ensure you fell to Haou's troops," O'Brien reported, attention on where Demonic Sky Elder had been. Then he nudged Guardian of the Underworld with his foot. "And he intended to help him, for his own gain."

Whispered words ran here and there through the gathering before one clear voice spoke up. "What are we going to _do_? We don't have a leader anymore! We need someone who can win this fight and there isn't anyone!"

The priestess smiled to herself for a swift heartbeat before she moved forward. "There is!" She turned her attention to O'Brien. "He defeated Skull Bishop, one of Haou's most powerful servants. He saved us all. If anyone here can be our new leader, then he's the one!"

O'Brien's eyes widened and he shook his head, trying to protest. She didn't give him the chance to say anything else.

"You do have a strong power within you, one that's not like anyone else's. You were able to overcome your fears and you _saved us all_!" She reached toward him, making sure not to touch him, though everything within her demanded that she do so.

Others of the village began to nod. "She's right! You're the best for the job!"

"You can do it!"

He was being convinced. Perhaps he didn't like the concept – it did involve a lot of responsibility, especially with a battle hovering on the horizon – but they needed someone who could do the job and there wasn't anyone else who could do it.

"All right," he agreed at last, raising his head up. A fresh confidence blew through him as he did so and she smiled. He really was the hero that she'd been searching for.

* * *

Once everyone else scattered on their new tasks, O'Brien approached her, a new light in his eyes. A faint smile played over his lips at the same time.

"Thank you," he murmured. "This isn't what I'm suited for, but thank you anyway."

She smiled back, adjusting her grip on her trident. "I only did what I felt was right. You may not believe that you're suited for the task, but I believe you can do it."

"I'll do what I can." He turned his attention to the village gates, where a few sentries now stood, more confidence in their demeanor than before. "There's something that I need you to do as well."

She raised one eyebrow, curious as to what he had in mind. What she heard wasn't close to what she'd expected.

"I have to leave here soon. The best way I can protect you all is to fight Haou directly."

Her heart froze at the words. She knew he spoke truth; it made sense in every way, regardless of if she liked it or not. She hadn't wanted to hear it. They knew there would be an attack soon and it wasn't unlikely that Haou would lead it. He could wait here for that.

But he wouldn't. That wasn't the way that he thought and despite how short of a time she'd known him, she could already see that. She nodded; he would have her find another leader. She hadn't talked to many people in the village and those who she had didn't seem suited for it. Most of them would tremble in the fact of battle, which was why she'd encouraged O'Brien to step up in the first place.

"Someone will have to lead these people while I'm away. I think that you can do it."

She stared at him, wondering what madness gripped him. "No… I'm not a duelist...I can't."

His eyes met hers. "You don't have to be. You can see into the hearts of people and find what they can do. Like you did for me. I can try to give them hope in me. _You_ can encourage hope in themselves." The smile that tilted his lips felt a little more real. "Will you try?"

She drew in an unsteady breath. She'd never imagined herself leading people but he was right on the point that someone had to do it. "I'll do what I can – while I can. When you return -" Because he had to return. Leading this place on her own would be a nightmare that she didn't want to have. To risk so many deaths if she made too many mistakes…

"I'll come back when I can." But the way that he didn't look at her when he spoke this time didn't encourage her at all. She wanted to know what was on his mind, but the words escaped her. It had something to do with Haou. She knew that O'Brien feared the warlord – was there anyone in this world who didn't? - but something else lurked in the set of his shoulders and the tilt of his head, something she couldn't understand.

She would find out when he came back, she promised herself. Before she could say anything else to that effect, noise sprang up near the gates and someone began to call for O'Brien. He bid her a quick farewell and headed there at a rush.

She watched his departure, glancing up to her fairy friends as they settled near her.

"You think he's not going to come back?" One of them asked. "That he'll die in battle?"

"I hope he doesn't." She pressed her lips together for a few seconds. "I want to believe that he'll return." She believed in that as strongly as she believed in her god and in an entirely different way. She believed in her god because she'd been raised to do so; it was her purpose in existing.

She believed in O'Brien because she'd seen what he could do and she did not want to risk the despair that would engulf her if he did fall against their enemy.

But he would come back. She had to believe that he would come back. Her god marked them as soulmates. The divine wouldn't be so cruel as to bring them together and yet not allow them the chance to _be_ together.

She had to believe.

* * *

O'Brien didn't come back. He bid her farewell, still standing away from her – that she understood, it was his gift, to not seal the bond when he faced a situation where he could die – and then he and those who were his unexpected allies and friends departed from the village. His last words to the people as a whole were to work with the new arrivals and listen to her, but to be prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice.

She did all that she could to get ready for that. The new allies who arrived with Hell Kaiser – such an odd name – and Edo Phoenix were all duelists and took on the defense of the village, while the ones who'd already been there settled into defensive guarding positions and managing food and shelter. She sent out others to find somewhere they could retreat to if all were lost and others to search for any gates to other worlds that they could use in the most extreme of pinches.

At least she had help now. These allies weren't like the villagers; they'd seen the horror of Haou and his power firsthand, and while they respected it, they'd lived so far. They hadn't yet lost hope, and being rescued from the brink of death helped with that.

"You're worried about him," a quiet voice murmured not that far from her. She didn't look away from where her attention centered: the path that O'Brien had taken towards Haou's castle. But she knew who spoke: Amazoness Holy Warrior, one of those who'd been rescued. In the scant hours since their arrival, this warrior quickly proved herself to be talented and capable, and the priestess enjoyed having her around.

"Of course I am. He's going to fight Haou." Worry only made sense, didn't it? Even if they hadn't been soulmates, it would have made sense. She worried about his allies as well. There'd been something strange about that Hell Kaiser, a sense of impending illness, that she hadn't had time to investigate. Healing would never be her forte, but she detected something wrong even if she couldn't do anything about it.

Holy Warrior reached out her arm and the priestess glanced towards the motion, spying a faded, all bu t invisible, mark on the back of her hand. She sat up; that was a soulmate mark!

"Tactical Warrior," Amazoness Holy Warrior said, a gentle smile on her lips far at odds with the way she polished her sword. "I never thought that I would meet my soulmate in another world or that I would come to love her so much when we had such little time together. A few months, that was all. Then we were trapped by Haou's people and she fell against Chaos Sorcerer." Her eyes hardened. "I would kill him myself if I had the chance. I didn't then – feeling your bonded soulmate die is one of the most horrible feelings in the world. I couldn't even fight."

That was why O'Brien refused to commit to their bond. Perhaps neither of them knew what it could feel like to lose a bit hf your soul, but also neither of them _wanted_ to know.

"One day I'm going to die too," Amazoness Holy Warrior mused. "And then we'll be together again."

The priestess discovered she was smiling. It didn't feel like a happy smile. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Perhaps. Did it?"

"No." She refused to lie about that. If anything, it made her feel worse.

"I couldn't have stopped her from fighting. I didn't even try. It was what she wanted to do and there were many people who lived because she died. I miss her – I will miss her every day of my life. But it would have been so much worse if she'd lived and I would have had to wake up every day to see the sorrow in her eyes." The Holy Warrior's smile didn't feel much happier than hers. "We all serve our own gods in the way that we believe will help the most. I serve my goddess by letting those who can fight do so in their own way, and fighting in mine."

The priestess nodded slowly. She wasn't sure if it made sense because she liked it or if she liked it because it made sense. Regardless, it did ease something deep within her and she made her way to her feet.

"I think it's time for dinner," she said, and Amazoness Holy Warrior nodded, that small touch of a smile crossing her lips as well.

The two of them hadn't taken more than a half dozen steps before the priestess stumbled to a halt, an odd sensation sweeping all through her, starting from her arm. Her throat closed before she dared to make another move.

 _No. No._

She didn't want to look at her arm, with its display of vivid green zeroes. She tried to turn her head away, but no part of her body wanted to move at all. She could feel the holy warrior's hands on her shoulders, supporting her. She could breath, but every scrap of air sliced into her lungs like tiny knives.

 _Austin. Austin O'Brien._

What little relationship they'd had existed more on a promise of potential, on what might have been and what could be, if they met in other circumstances, if they survived the war, if there was ever a chance they could spend enough time together to really get to know each other, to _want_ to affirm their bond and march towards the future together.

Ever so unwillingly she turned her gaze down to her arm, just in time to see the numbers there blurring and fading. They didn't vanish altogether – there would always be a semblance of them – but now they were a smeared charcoal gray, as if someone smeared ashes on her skin.

Her knees crumpled underneath her and she gasped, choked out a sob that was half a demand to her god on why this happened.

O'Brien was dead.

* * *

 **To Be Continued**

 **Notes:** Final chapter goes up tomorrow. I quite thoroughly enjoyed writing about Amazoness Holy Warrior (who actually is visible in episode 142 as one of those Ryou & Edo rescued. You can see her standing next to Warrior Lady of the Wasteland) and Tactical Warrior. Maybe some day when I have more time and energy I'll write _their_ love story.

Also, anyone want to help me make Steamshipping the official name for O'Brien x Sea God's Priestess? More fanfic, plz ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Words:** 9,539/9,539|| **Chapters:** 4/4

* * *

"It's them! It's them!" Cries of rejoicing rose up from the guards outside the village. The priestess moved towards the nearest place she could see, wondering just what caused their joy. She hadn't felt anything like that in the last handful of days, not since her mark blurred and darkened.

But when she saw who approached, a tiny flare of something very like hope stirred in her heart. She didn't know the approaching people very well, but she knew that O'Brien did. Or had. They'd gone with him to Haou's castle.

Perhaps they could at least tell her what happened. If he'd fallen in honorable battle or anything else. Had he truly faced Haou or had one of those servants of his struck him down?

"Let them in," she called down, and the sentries obeyed. Another order had food and drink brought; all of them looked like they could use it. Especially the one that she didn't recognize, the boy in red.

She joined them in the small house set aside for them. Just from looking she presumed they wouldn't stay long. Whatever they searched for, it wouldn't be found here. But she would give what help that she could.

"None of us saw the whole duel," Hell Kaiser admitted. His own breathing seemed to be a trifle rough, but he waved off all offers of assistance. "He did defeat Haou, though."

The boy in red said nothing, but his fingers tightened and he turned away, his voice harsh as he tried to speak, though no actual words formed and he stopped after a few moments.

"Could I ask what happened to your other companion?" She wondered. The one who'd worn white, to contrast Hell Kaiser's black.

Hell Kaiser rested his fingers against his wrist for a few moments, a pain that she knew all too well in his eyes. "We were attacked before we came here. Someone searching for too much power. Edo attempted to stop him, but lost."

She murmured words in an attempt to soothe. Hell Kaiser only shook his his head.

"We can only stay overnight. But if you have something that can deal with a fever, we would appreciate it." Hell Kaiser nodded toward the one in red. "He's still not well."

The priestess could see that; not only was his voice pained and weary, there were fever marks on his face, and he looked as if he hadn't eaten in far too long. Even now he only nibbled at the food before him and he never seemed to want to meet anyone's eyes.

 _I wonder if Haou held him prisoner._ Haou hadn't done that to anyone; his methods were kill or enslave only so far as she'd ever heard. But she hardly had full access to all that went on inside that terrifying place.

Her fairy companions went to find one of the local healers, while she struggled to bring up the words she needed to ask about O'Brien.

"Is there anything else that you can tell me about what happened?" She wanted to ask even more, but she wished too much she could learn what she wanted to know from him and not from strangers.

Surprisingly, it was the one in red who answered. "He was right. He was braver than anyone else. He did what was right, even when it cost him his life." He leaned forward, coughing for a few moments, while Hell Kaiser and the other boy – the one who had given her O'Brien's duel disk – watched cautiously. "I… I should have listened to him. To him and Jim..." His voice faltered and he curled up around himself, shivering.

 _He..._ What he said teased at her, but she couldn't let herself think of it. This was a time of mourning, not anything that resembled vengeance.

And even if the thought that whispered was true, he wasn't there to hurt them. He was too sick to hurt anyone at the moment. He seemed almost too sick to stand up on his own feet, for that matter.

But she still raised her head and looked towards Hell Kaiser, a wealth of questions in her eyes. His gaze flickered back to the boy, but he said nothing else.

He didn't really need to.

* * *

They left the next morning, in the coolest part of the day. Her explorers told of a door in a desert one reached via two days of travel. The pathway hadn't been explored very well, but she made certain they had food and water packed for them. She'd spoken nothing of her concerns, but the boy in red – Juudai – found time to tell her things about O'Brien – how in the world they came from, the two of them dueled once, and he'd always had a feeling that O'Brien could have defeated him then, and of how he'd been helpful and useful when they'd been in many dangerous situations.

"He was a good friend," Juudai said, "and this – this is all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm _sorry_."

The priestess wanted so much to find something soothing that she could say to him, but whenever she tried, the words choked in her throat. She confined herself to bidding them farewell and wishing them the best on their travels, to hope that they found their way to their home.

* * *

It took years before she found out what happened to them after that. The one who told her wasn't someone that she'd ever imagined hearing from again after she bid them farewell.

Because the one who told her what happened to them, and how true her suspicions about Juudai were, was O'Brien himself.

He approached the village – now more of a small town – one spring morning, almost five years after she'd last seen him. She hadn't given her mark a moment's thought in well over two years, and tended to wear something so she didn't see it. She'd tried very hard to ignore the occasional flickers of warmth that rose up from it as well. If he'd been reborn somehow, then she wanted nothing to do with a baby.

But here he stood, almost as she remembered him, and without thinking about it, she pulled up the sleeve on her arm. There glowed her numbers, bright green as before, and she started to reach for him, so close, so very close.

Then she pulled her hand back, throat closing in fear, and stared harder at him. There were spirits that could take the form of others, alive or dead, and she would not be deceived.

Yet her mark would know the difference. A soulmate mark, even one that wasn't fully realized, always reacted only to the true soulmate.

His lips twitched. "It's me," he said, voice quiet. He raised one hand to his shoulders and there she could see the scars from the first battle she'd seen him fight all those years before.

"How?" She gripped her trident, knuckles going white with the strength of it. "How could you die and be here? And I know you died!" No one else had ever returned from death, not and look so much like him. If anyone else returned, they were vampires or zombies or ghosts, not solid flesh and bone!

The smallest of smiles, that still held ghosts of pain, moved across his lips. "It wasn't my idea. Though I can't say that I'm ungrateful for it."

"Then what was it?" She didn't shout, though it was only by the thinnest of margins. "What happened?"

He settled himself on a rocky outcropping before he looked back at her. "I died. I fought Haou and I died. But there was someone else involved, a spirit named Yubel, who saved everyone that Juudai cared about."

Her eyes narrowed, recollections of her concerns returning. "Then that boy I met – Juudai – was Haou." Oh, she wanted to know how _that_ came about!

"Yes. He might come through here one day. He's spent the last few years traveling everywhere helping people." O'Brien smiled a small smile. "He won't hurt anyone. He's much different now."

"If you trust him, then I'll trust you," she promised. She would like to meet him again and see what she could learn from him. It seemed there was a great deal more going on than she'd ever thought of before.

O'Brien nodded, glancing up to meet her eyes. "With the help of my friends I was able to come back here." He touched his mark on his arm. "I think – now that the war's over – we … I hoped..." His smile faltered, but she thought it was due more to not knowing what to say than anything else.

"Would you like to know my name?" The priestess murmured. "You do remember what I told you, don't you?"

His smile strengthened ever so lightly. "I remember everything that you told me. I would like to know your name, if you would tell it to me."

She raised her hand, then set it back down. "I think we should get to know each other better first," she offered. "We haven't spent enough time to truly make this decision."

For only when they were bonded could she reveal her name. Doing otherwise went against everything she'd grown up believing and though it had been years since she'd seen the oceans of her home, she saw no reason to change that now.

He nodded. "Of course."

She gestured to the wider town. "We've improved since you were last here. Ever since the war ended, we've had time to locate resources and build more. Would you like me to show you around?"

"I would be honored." O'Brien rose, bending his head in a way to show deep respect. Her heart beat a bit faster at that, and at the thought of having more time to spend with him.

There were some who could move on after the loss of a romantic soulmate. Amazoness Holy Fighter now enjoyed a deep relationship with Heather, the Holy Elf who tended to their needs, satisfied that her soulmate would want her to be happy even without her.

But the priestess had never been able to do that. Part of it had been that she'd never found anyone who intrigued her like O'Brien did. Another part – one that she was convinced held far more weight – was that they'd never had the chance to explore what could have been between them. With such a question hanging over her heart, she couldn't bring herself to move on and find someone else.

And now here he was, wiser and older, stronger and more sure of himself, and as wanting to find out what they could have together as she did.

"It turned out the mountains have several resources in them," she said, gesturing that way. "Precious gems are very useful, not just for trade but for use in magic. And there are many caves where we can find the ingredients for certain potions and tinctures as well. Our healers have some of the finest tools around because of that."

O'Brien nodded, giving the mountains an appraising look before she started to guide him elsewhere. She wasn't the only person who wanted to talk to him, of course. There were still plenty here who knew him from those brief times before the fall of Haou, and all of them wanted to at least greet him. O'Brien returned the greetings, giving only brief explanations on his survival.

"We've heard a lot of rumors about what happened," she said as they moved along. "There are people who claim that it was Hell Kaiser who defeated Haou."

That got a quirk of his lips. "I wouldn't be surprised. If I hadn't managed what I did, I would have asked him to take it up where I left off. I think he could have."

From what little she'd seen of him, Hell Kaiser would have done it very well, too. Yet for all of that, she remained just as proud that O'Brien brought that war to an end. He deserved every bit of self-respect that he'd gained from it, and more.

With each passing day, they spent what time they could together. The priestess observed the planting of the crops, while O'Brien drilled some of the sentries and the duelists. They explored what areas hadn't been fully mapped out and found a few places no one had given much thought to yet. He took up residence a few doors down from her home.

"I have things I have to do back home eventually," he told her, "but I'll stay here as long as I can."

"You're welcome to stay as long as you want."

That got a nod, then a curious look from him. "I would like it if you came back with me. I'd like you to meet my friends – and my parents."

A faint tinge of red crept up her cheeks at that. "I would like that." Perhaps they could also find a way to her own world and he could meet _her_ parents.

"So would I." He glanced at her again and she gazed back at him. By now he'd been here nearly six weeks and she looked forward every day to seeing him. The idea of returning to his world, with so many strange people and creatures and machines and places she'd never seen, thrilled through her.

He hesitated for a few seconds, before he held his hand out to her. He'd never done that in all of this time and she knew what he meant. She swallowed for a few heartbeats before she reached out to take his hand in her own.

Bare skin touched bare skin for the first time. Her breath caught in her throat as the green numbers on their arms faded away, replaced a rich blue swirl of steam surrounded by a circle of golden links. She touched it with the tip of her finger. Their marks. Their soulmate marks that would last forever, and some said into other lives.

She looked up at him, a lump in her throat, still not all the way believing that this happened in the first place. They'd bonded, accepted the bond, and that meant there was something that she could do now. She'd really wanted to do it since realizing he was her soulmate.

"Arethusa," she murmured. "My name is Arethusa."

O'Brien smiled at that. A gentle expression, one she didn't see very often on his face, but it warmed her heart when she did. "That's a beautiful name, Arethusa."

"Family history says an ancestor of ours carried it first, and she was one of the first priestesses to our god." She remembered her parents telling her the tale many times during her childhood. "There's a painting of her at home. I don't look anything like her."

O'Brien's fingers tightened on her own. "I'm just as glad that you're you."

* * *

 **The End**

 **Notes:** And they begin their lives together. I always thought it was rather sad that they didn't inform Sea God's Priestess about what happened with O'Brien (soulmates or otherwise) so it's my headcanon that after the mess with Amon, then Shou, Juudai, Ryou, and Ojama Yellow stop back by to let her know.

One more down, twenty-five to go! Keep an eye on my profile for my progress if you're interested.


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